1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pipe part provided with an integral flange of fiber reinforced plastic material, more particularly to a wound glass fiber reinforced plastic pipe part provided with a flange.
The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a pipe part provided with an integral flange of fiber reinforced plastic material by superimposing fiber reinforcing layers and a liquid plastic resin in a flange mould, followed by curing the resin.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
A pipe part provided with a flange of fiber reinforced plastic material and a process of manufacturing said pipe, are known per se. In this known process the flange consists of a plurality of superimposed plastic resin-impregnated glass fiber mats and/or glass fabrics.
In order to provide a pipe part with a flange of said type, resin-impregnated (whether or not woven) glass mats have to be deposited into a mould. Said (whether or not woven) glass mats will then on the one hand extend parallel with the flange and on the other hand in a direction parallel with the axis of the pipe part. Said method presents the disadvantage that it is very time-consuming.
Efforts have been made to produce a flange by radially winding smooth or looped rovings, being impregnated in a liquid plastic resin, upon a mandrel. Although a considerable economy of time is obtained with respect to the manual manufacture of flanges by means of resin-impregnated (whether or not woven) glass mats extending on the one hand parallel with the flange surface and on the other hand parallel with the pipe part axis, the strength of the flanges so obtained is absolutely insufficient in an axial direction. As a matter of fact, there are no glass fibers extending axially, while, moreover, the glass fiber layers will easily slide over each other.
The present invention now aims to provide a fiber reinforced plastic pipe part comprising an integral flange and a method for its manufacture, which do not present the aforementioned disadvantages.